Skate and skid fenders for life boats



7 Nov. 26, 1957 Filed Aug. 24, 1953 w. F. HICKSON 2,814,058

SKATE AND SKID FENDERS FOR LIFE BOATS 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

WilliamlE'Hz'c/isan WZQ ATTORNEY Nov. 26, 1957 w. F. HICKSON 2,814,058

SKATE AND SKID FENDERS FOR LIFE BOATS I Filed Aug. 24, 1953 s Sheets-Sheet 2 H; WE.

INVENTOR.

. Wa'llzkzmifflz'citson [4 :35 34 ATTORNEY 1957 w. F. HICKSON 2,814,058

SKATE AND SKID FENDERS FOR LIFE BOATS Filed Aug. 24, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 1 26 7 [Z5 IMENTOR.

Z08 1/ W21 Ziam Fm'c/Zsow ATTORNEY Unite William F. Hickson, Rahway, N. J., assignor to Continental Copper & Steel Industries, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application August 24, 1953, Serial No. 376,019

4 Claims. (or. 9-42 The present invention relates to skate and skid fenders for life boats and it is among the objects of the present invention to provide an inexpensive and low cost skate and skid fenders for life boats which may be readily at tached and removed from life boats of standard form, shape and construction, and which will facilitate launching of the life boats over a ships side and at the same time protect the boats from injury by striking against the side of the ship.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple, readily detached and attached skate and skid fenders for life boats which will facilitate the launching and recovery of a life boat and lessen the likelihood of tipping or canting of the life boat when launched on the high side of the ships hull, and which will also protect the boat against smashing or damage.

A further object is to provide a skid fender for use in launching of life boats which will be effective to launch the same irrespective of the list or trim of the vessel in emergencies, and which will be readily accommodated to the contour and shape of the cross-section of the life boat without the necessity of reconstructing, templating or fitting of the fenders on board the vessel.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects it has been found most satisfactory, according to one embodiment of the present invention to provide an adjustable strap which may be readily fitted over the outside of the boat, and which strap will carry a series of blocks, preferably of wood, to be held against the sides of the boat by the strap.

These adjustable straps and blocks are normally located about one-third the distance from the ends of the boat, or as near opposite the thwarts as possible. Desirably the entire strap may be clamped in position at the gunwales.

These clamping means are desirably connected to the ends of the straps and they are provided with handle rods and cam plates which cooperate with the end clamping bars riveted or bolted to the ends of the steel strap.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a life boat showing the skate and skid fenders in position thereon.

Sttes Patent ice Fig. 2 is a transverse side sectional view taken up the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing the side elevation of the strap or skid fender as applied to a life boat.

Fig. 3 is a top elevation view of the strap or skid fender taken from the line of 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detailed top plan view upon an enlarged scale, showing the latching arrangement for connecting the end of the strap to the gunwale of the boat.

Fig. 5 is an end elevational view of the latch connection taken upon the line 5--5 of Fig. 4.

v Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the adjustable connection of the end of the strap to the clamping arrangement at the gunwale of the boat.

Fig. 7 is a transverse vertical sectional view upon the line 7--7 of Fig. 1 upon an enlarged scale as compared to Fig. 1 showing the manner of attachment of the blocks to the strap.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary side elevational view upon an enlarged scale and upon the line 8-8 of Fig. 2 showing the manner of attachment of the lower end of the strap of the keel of the boat.

Fig. 9 is a transverse vertical sectional view upon the time 9-9 of Fig. 8 showing the attachment to the keel.

Fig. 10 shows an alternative clamp arrangement to enable clarnping of the lower end of the strap to the keel of the boat, Fig. 10 being a side elevational view of such alternative arrangement similar to Fig. 8.

' Fig. 11 is a transverse vertical sectional view upon the line 11-11 of Fig. 10.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 there is shown a boat A having side plates 10, the base plate 11, the keel 12 and the gunwale 13. The present invention is particularly directed to the skid tender and skate indicated at B on the side of the boat in Figs. 1 to 3, which has a top clamp C to the gunwale and a bottom clamp D to the keel.

The top clamp to the gunwale is shown in greater detail in Figs. 4, 5 and 6.

The bottom clamp to the keel is shown best in Figs. 8 and'9.

The skate or skid fender B consists of the straps 14 and a plurality of wood blocks 15.

The straps 14 may vary considerably in thickness or size and desirably in one form of the invention they are made of galvanized steel with an approximate length of 7 feet 3 inches and of a cross-section of the order of At-inch by 3 inches.

At varying spacings ranging from 1 /2 inches to 3 inches there may be mounted on the straps a series of wood blocks 15, which are shown in small scales 1, 2 and 3 and in a large scale in Fig. 7.

These blocks may vary in number and size and in one form of the invention they are of oak wood and of a dimension 3% inches x 3% inches x 5 inches.

A typical block of this character is shown in Fig. 7 and extending through it are 2 or 4 flat head tinned rivets or bolts 25 which extend through the openings 26.

The Hat heads 27 and the washers 28 are received in the recess portions 29 of the inside face 30 of the block 15.

Covering and enclosing the inside face 30 are the stainless steel covers 31, which are bent over the sides of the blocks as indicated at 32 and held in position at each side by a plurality of galvanized wire nails 30.

The outer ends of the rivets 25 extend through countersunk openings 34in the strap 14 and they have riveted heads 35, which are partly received in such countersunk portions.

The number of blocks 15 may be considerably varied and for life boats ranging from 12 feet to 22 feet, six may be employed; while for life boats ranging from 24 feet to 31 feet, eight may be employed; while for life boats ranging from 32 feet to 37 feet, nine blocks may be employed.

Desirably the blocks are so arranged as indicated in Fig. 2 so that the lowermost blocks 40 and 41 may be spaced up to 8 inches sufiiciently to straddle the grab rail 42.

The upper end of the strap 14 is bent inwardly as indicated at 43 in Fig. 2, and the end 44 of the strap is provided with pairs of openings 45, 46, 47 and 48, which may be spaced an inch apart to permit an adjustment between the connect-ion of the strap 14 to the gunwale connection C.

The connection between the end 44 of the strap 14 to the extension 49 of the clamping bar 50 (see Figs. 4 to 6) is desirably made by two pairs of bolts 51 and 52. These bolts extend through one of the parts of the openings 53, 54, 55 and 56 in the extension 49.

The clamp bar 50 bends over the corner of the angle gunwale rail 13, and then it extends inwardly as indicated at 66.

The inside extension 66 of the bar 50 is bent downwardly as indicated at 67 and the terminal portion 68 carries a pivot bolt and nut 69 with the flat washer 70 and the lock washer 71 (see Fig. 5).

Resting on the head 72 of the nut and bolt 69 is the stainless steel cam plate 73 which may be swung from solid line locking position of Fig. 4 to dot and dash line unlocked position of Fig. 4.

This swinging movement may be accomplished by means of the stainless steel handle rod 74 which may extend a distance of 9 inches at their inside end 75 that are desirably welded to steel cam plates 73.

It will be noted that the steel cam plates 73 have a semi-circular edge position 76 adjacent the pivot bolt 69. At the other face they have a quarter-circular edge 77 which cams against the inside face 78 of the gunwale 13. It will be noted that the top edge of the cam position 77 is rounded as indicated at 79 so as to conform to the curved corner 65 of the gunwale.

The edge 80 of the cam plates 73 carries the stainless steel toggle pin 81, which has an eye82 carrying hook 83 of the galvanized straight link chain 84.

The other end of the chain 85 is connected to the cotter 7 pin 86 in the horizontal flange 87 of the gunwale.

Referring to the keel clamp D, as shown best in Figs. 8 and 9, the bottom plates 11 have the extensions 100, which are bolted or riveted at 101 and 102 to the keel 12.

The lower end 103 of the strap 14 is welded as indicated at 104, 105 and 106 to the right angular steel bracket 107.

It will be noted that the upturned end 108 has an opening 109 between the brackets 107. This opening serves as an eye to receive the stud extension 110 on the stainless steel stud 111.

The stud 111 will retain the strap 14 when the upper end of the strap is drawn up by the clamp C at the gun- Wale.

It will be noted that the end 108 of the strap is recessed as indicated at 111a to clear the bolt end 102.

In the alternative arrangement as shown in Figs. 10 and 11 there is provided a clamping plate 125, which is held in position by means of the bolts 126 and the central location galvanized steel stub 127.

In this arrangement the end 108 of the strap 14 is clamped into position against the keel by the plate which may be provided with a clamping face 128 made of tape or elastic.

In operation the strap 14, together with the blocks 15, may be readilylocated at suitable places along the sides of the aluminum life boat.

For example, for boats 22 feet and under, the strap may be 3 inches wide and y -inch thick.

With boats 24 feet and over the strap may be 4-inch 4 thick and 3 inches wide, normally the skates and skids are located about /3 the length of the both ends of the boat.

With boats having independent air tanks, the skates are located as near the thwarts as possible.

On life boats with built-in tanks, they are located as near opposite the bulkheads as possible.

A line 150, as shown in Fig. 3, should clear the grab rail at the midship section of the life boat.

The grab rail 42, as indicated in Fig. 1, may be supported by a series of clips or supports 39 as indicated in Figs. 1. and 2.

The grab rail 42 may consist of a 4-inch pipe. In the form as shown, the skates or skids are first engaged either by the clamping plate 125 of Fig. 10 or by the stud 110 of Fig. 9 at the keel 12. It is then extended up along the side of the shell plating 1011 to the gunwale 13 where the gunwale clamp C is applied.

The adjustable strap connection as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 enables proper adjustment of the length of the strap so that it may be tightly engaged.

The clamp is in releasing position as indicated by the dot and dash lines in Fig. 4. It is locked when in the solid line position in Fig. 4.

It is apparent that the skid arrangement shown may be most conveniently attached and it is reliable and will not require reconstruction of the boat.

As many changes could be made in the above skate and skid fenders for life boats, and many widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, and it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

1. An end attachment to the gunwale for a skid and skate for life boats, said life boats having a keel, a gunwale and a grab rail and said skid and skate being of the type comprising a flexible metal strap with inwardly extending spaced blocks mounted at intervals along the length thereof, said attachment being at the end of said strap at the gunwale, the end of said strap at the gunwale being provided with a stiff non-flexible angle bar one end of which extends horizontally inwardly toward the center of the boat and the other end of which extends obliquely downwardly and outwardly away from the center of the boat, the inner end of said bar being provided with an offset portion which will lie below the top surface of the gunwale and a manually actuated swinging clamping plate pivo-tally mounted on the bottom face of said offset portion.

2. An end attachment to the gunwale for a skid and skate for life boats, said life boats having a keel, a gunwale and a grab rail and said skid and skate being of the type comprising a flexible metal strap with inwardly extending spaced blocks mounted at intervals along the length thereof, said attachment being at the end of said strap at the gunwale, the engagement to the gunwale being adjustable to vary the length of the strap, the end of said strap at the gunwale being provided with a stiff non-flexible angle bar one end of which extends horizontally inwardly toward the center of the boat and the other end of which extends obliquely downwardly and outwardly away from the center of the boat, the inner end of said bar being provided with an offset portion which will lie below the top surface of the gunwale and a manually actuated swinging clamping plate pivotally mounted on the bottom face of said offset portion.

3. An end attachment to the gunwale for a skid and skate for life boats, said life boats having a keel. a gunwale and a grab rail and said skid and skate being of the type comprising a flexible metal strap with inwardly extending spaced blocks mounted at intervals along the length thereof, said attachment being at the end of said strap at the gunwale, said blocks being spaced most widely to clear the grab rail, the end of said strap at the gunwale being provided with a stiif non-flexible angle bar one end of which extends horizontally inwardly toward the center of the boat and the other end of which extends obliquely downwardly and outwardly away from the center of the boat, the inner end of said bar being provided with an offset portion which will lie below the top surface of the gunwale and a manually actuated swinging clamping plate pivotally mounted on the bottom face of said offset portion.

4. An end attachment to the gunwale for a skid and skate for life boats, said life boats having a keel, a gunwale and a grab rail and said skid and skate being of the type comprising a flexible metal strap with inwardly extending spaced blocks mounted at intervals along the length thereof, said attachment being at the end of said strap at the gunwale, said blocks being provided with metal lining strips, the end of said strap at the gunwale being provided with a stiff non-flexible angle bar one end of which extends horizontally inwardly toward the center of the boat and the other end of which extends obliquely downwardly and outwardly away from the center of the boat, the inner end of said bar being provided with an offset portion which will lie below the top surface of the gunwale and a manually actuated swinging clamping plate pivotally mounted on the bottom face of said ofiset portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 555,981 Streeter Mar. 10, 1896 1,304,316 Hyland May 20, 1919 1,389,869 Hall Sept. 6, 1921 2,120,265 Ryan June 14, 1938 2,332,225 Hunt Oct. 19, 1943 2,429,969 Wasco Oct. 28, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS 29,899 France Aug. 18, 1925 665,033 Great Britain J an. 16, 1952 957,744 France Aug. 29, 1949 

